London's Notting Hill Carnival kicked off with a riot of colour despite grey skies, in a celebration of Caribbean culture reputed as Europe's biggest street party.
Rio on Wednesday elected the Unidos da Tijuca samba school as its Carnival champions, a 40-strong jury crowning a program which paid homage to late Brazilian Formula One racer Ayrton Senna.
Rio plunged into five days of hedonistic revelry Friday as the city's legendary carnival opened, with King Momo taking the keys of the city and declaring joy by decree.
Rio's Carnival festivities reached their crescendo late Monday with a final night of samba school parades, part of a contest appropriately dubbed the greatest show on earth.
As world celebrities watched, top samba schools paraded their elaborate fantasy floats and scantily-clad beauty queens Sunday in the fiery highlight of the Rio Carnival.
Some 70,000 revellers, many wearing elaborate costumes and masks, thronged Venice's St Mark's Square on Sunday to watch the traditional "flight of the angel," a highlight of the annual Carnival.
Hundreds of pets decked out with sequins, ruffles and hats paraded on Rio's famed Copacabana beach Sunday in an annual pre-Carnival extravaganza briefly interrupted by a spate of robberies.